Elections of Chairperson and Vice-chairpersons and other seats of the IOC Executive Council

Elections for Chairperson and five Vice-chairpersons (Officers) of IOC as well as for members of the IOC Executive Council are held every two years during the IOC Assembly.

There are 40 seats on the IOC Executive Council (1 Chairperson, 5 Vice-chairpersons and 34 Member States). The Executive Council is renewed as a whole every two years. The Chairperson and Vice-chairpersons are elected in their own personal capacity They should be seconded by two other Member States and must sign the nomination form. An elected Chairperson or Vice-chairperson cannot be replaced during the term s/he is elected for. The Chairperson and the Vice-chairpersons can serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. There is no term limitation for IOC Member States concerning re-election to the Executive Council.

The next elections will take place during the 31st Session of the Assembly on Monday 21 June 2021 in praesentia at UNESCO Headquarters in adherence to the IOC Rules of Procedure.

Candidatures should be filed on nomination forms and duly signed and should be registered by the IOC Secretariat no later than Wednesday 16 June 2021, 17.00 hrs CEST.  [Please scroll down to see the current list of received nominations].

Please note that the IOC Secretariat does not at any time determine if a nomination is valid. It is the Nominations Committee established on the first day of the Assembly that will determine the validity of a candidature. The function of the Committee is solely to accept and forward all nominations to the Assembly, while ensuring that the procedures laid down in the IOC Rules of Procedure Appendix I are strictly adhered to. The Nominations Committee does not enter into any negotiations about a candidate or candidates in electoral groups. 

The technical arrangements for the Elections of Officers of the IOC and other members of the Executive Council are provided in the IOC Rules of Procedure, Appendix I: Click here.  Only IOC Member States can vote. Given the current circumstances of holding the 31st Session of the Assembly in hybrid mode, IOC Member States need to officially inform the Secretariat about the identity of the delegate having the right to vote. With a copy of this nomination letter and corresponding ID, the designated delegate will be able to cast a vote at UNESCO HQ on 21st June 2021.

Nomination forms are provided in Annex I, II and III of the IOC Rule of Procedure. The Nomination forms can also be downloaded from IOC_Basic_Texts (click the proper button below).

Current Officers of the Commission (elected 3 July 2019):

Click to see:

1- the current composition of the Executive Council

2- the current listing of the IOC electoral groups

3- the current list of IOC Member States

Candidature forms received at the IOC Secretariat (in alphabetical order with date of reception and by electoral groups) for the biennial elections at the 31st Assembly:

This list is maintained on-line on a purely informative basis only until a Nominations Committee is established by the Assembly at its 31^st Session.

Answers to most frequent asked questions:

1- There are 40 seats in the Executive Council (1 Chairperson, 5 vice-chairpersons, and 34 other member countries) (Rule 18.2).

2- Member States of which the elected Chairperson and the five Vice-chairpersons are nationals occupy the first six seats on the Executive Council out of 40 (Technical arrangements for the elections 2.12).

3- The mandate of the Member States of the Executive Council commences at the end of the session of the Assembly during which they have been elected and expire at the end of the next session (Article 7A2 of IOC Statutes). The Executive Council mandate is therefore of two years (following the sequence of Assembly sessions). Elections are held at each session of the IOC Assembly (every two years - same year as that of the General Conference of UNESCO but several months in advance of the GC).

4- The Executive Council is renewed as a whole every two years. The Chairperson and the five Vice-chairpersons are eligible for re-election in their personal capacit, but only once for successive terms. There is no limitation for IOC Member States to re-election at the Executive Council (Rule 18.1).

5- The countries of all failed candidates in the elections for Chairperson and vice-chairpersons will be automatically included in the list of Member States candidates for elections to the Executive Council, unless the Head of any delegations indicates that s/he does not wish her/his country to be considered for the election. (Technical arrangements for the elections 1.8)

6- The representation in the Executive Council per electoral grouping has been changed at the 25th Assembly through Resolution XXV-15 as follows (Rule 18.2 amended in 2009):
Group I - 10 seats
Group II - 3 seats
Group III - 9 seats
Group IV - 9 seats
Group V - 9 seats

7- The rationale behind the current distribution of seats by electoral groupings is given in Appendix III of document IOC-XXI/2 Annex 4.

8- Each Member State "present and voting" is invited to vote by choosing country candidates in all electoral groups for which election is needed, the Member State chooses no more countries than the maximum number of seats remaining to be filled by electoral group.

9- In IOC there is one single  Group V, unlike UNESCO where Electoral Group V is split in Group V (a) – African States and  Group V (b) Arab States.

10- It is not possible to vote by proxy.

11- The Chairperson and Vice-chairpersons are elected in their own personal capacity and must sign the nomination form. An elected Chairperson or Vice-chairperson cannot be replaced during the term s/he is elected for.

12- Please look at the responsibilities of the Officers of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission described here.